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Lambda Legal Calls for Swift U.S. Senate Action on Respect for Marriage Act
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“We applaud our champions in the House, and today call on the U.S. Senate to act with similar speed and bipartisanship to reassure American families that marriage discrimination is and remains unlawful.”
Lambda Legal today praised the quick and bipartisan approval in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Respect for Marriage Act and urged the U.S. Senate similarly to act swiftly on the bill, which would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act and require nationwide recognition of all valid marriages, without discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Lambda Legal Acting Chief Legal Officer Jennifer C. Pizer issued the following statement:
“Our American history includes many shameful chapters, including when states denied loving couples the freedom to marry based on race, and when they did so based on sex. Many states that allowed their own residents to marry freely nonetheless supported other states’ discrimination by enforcing those racist and sexist laws.
“Lambda Legal fought for more than two decades to win the freedom to marry for same-sex couples because marriage allows couples to celebrate their commitment while securing essential legal protections for their families. But recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have caused many to worry that their marriages have become insecure.
“Yesterday, in a strong bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act and made crystal clear that a marriage solemnized validly anywhere in these United States is valid everywhere in our country without discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. We applaud our champions in the House, and today call on the U.S. Senate to act with similar speed and bipartisanship to reassure American families that marriage discrimination is and remains unlawful.”
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